Smith: Heat is on as Scioscia enters 14th season with Angels

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Angels Manager Mike Scioscia enjoys a light moment next to Anaheim Ducks' goaltender Viktor Fasth, left, and outfielder Travis Witherspoon during an impromptu hitting contest at the Angels Spring Training facility in Tempe. Fasth, having never picked up a bat before in his life, was helping Scioscia score.

Angels' manager Mike Scioscia listens to the National Anthem at Angel Stadium Saturday.

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Angels manager Mike Scioscia signals catcher Chris Iannetta during a game against Texas last season.

Manager Mike Scioscia high fives his team after they beat the Giants at Angel Stadium last season.

Manager Mike Scioscia listens as Josh Hamilton is introduced at a press conference at ESPNZone Anaheim in Downtown Disney.

Dodgers' Manager Don Mattingly shakes hands with Angels' skipper Mike Scioscia before the start of a recent game at Camelback Ranch.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia gets a little help on his signed Ducks jersey from former GM Brian Burke at the Angels' Spring Training facility in Tempe.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia, right, argues with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi after he called out Bobby Wilson at the plate.

ANAHEIM – We’ve asked him his take on new Angels slugger Josh Hamilton’s humor, on three-time MVP Albert Pujols’ repaired knee, on All-Star left-hander C.J. Wilson’s scatter-armed spring, even on the good eats in and around Philly – “Stay away from the touristy places. Hit the neighborhoods,” he says.

But nobody this spring has dared to ask Angels manager Mike Scioscia about his job security or whether the hot seat is actually a recliner, a chaise lounge or the smoldering top of a Viking range.

It seems that nobody wants to poke the bear. Not yet, anyway. Too soon.

Scioscia, 54, the longest tenured manager in the majors, begins his 14th season when the Angels open on Monday at Cincinnati. And everybody, even managers, gets a fresh start, right?

He still has six seasons on his 10-year contract extension that runs through 2018. Since 2000, he has led the Angels to a 1,155-951 mark, five AL West titles (2004-05, 2007-09), a 100-victory season in 2008 and their only World Series appearance and title in 2002.

Scioscia owns a franchise-best .548 winning percentage, which is noteworthy in the media guide and over a career but, let’s face it, meaningless when we care about today and yesterday and tomorrow but not the whole big picture.

Whether Scioscia stays or goes is entirely up to the discretion of Angels owner Arte Moreno. He pays the bills. He quashed the distraction late last season about Scioscia’s future with the team by grabbing hold of the MLB.com loud speaker and declaring on the Angels website that Scioscia would return in 2013 and saying, “I signed Mike long term and I’m invested in Mike long term.”

But who knows how long “long term” is when the Angels haven’t made the playoffs since 2009 and most stunningly failed to make the postseason in 2012 with a club-record $159 million team payroll and top free-agent bat (Pujols) and arm (Wilson) on the roster?

The All-Star-studded Angels went into 2012 as World Series favorites. “Great on paper,” the players said about Moreno’s $331 million investment in Pujols and Wilson.

But a dreadful 6-14 start, an unreliable bullpen that blew leads and the unrelenting strength of division rivals Oakland and Texas doomed the Angels to a third-place finish in the division, even with a respectable 89-73 record.

In this sports marketplace that demands accountability, which usually takes the form of pink-slipped coaches, Scioscia was called safe. Tie goes to manager.

When the season was over, Scioscia and his staff sequestered themselves in a room for 51/2 hours, reviewed 2012 and “peeled the paint off of everything.”

“There were some things that we stressed in spring training that I think were important, and some things that we have adjusted hopefully,” Scioscia said.

Going into 2013, the shrewd Moreno went all-in again, this time placing $125 million of his chips into luring Hamilton, the five-time All-Star and 2010 AL MVP, from the divisional rival Rangers with a five-year deal. The Angels also added depth to both the starting rotation and the bullpen, though spring training hasn’t exactly showcased an arms race.

For another season, Scioscia is being entrusted to manage a massive segment – $148 million in 2013 – of Moreno’s investment portfolio, the best team his money can buy.

Scioscia will do it without popular outfielder Torii Hunter, who hit a career-best .313 last season, and without starters Dan Haren and Ervin Santana, who had off-years last season.

With massive amounts of millions being spent, the World Series-or-bust expectations are implicit.

Whether Scioscia feels the pressure to win-it-all-or-else, he won’t say. His visible emotions are still running the spectrum from A to A-minus as he watches a last-place Cactus League team from the dugout railing.

The players say Scioscia hasn’t changed this spring as the standards have ratcheted up even higher with the addition of Hamilton.

“This is my eighth spring and he has been the same every year,” All-Star ace right-hander Jered Weaver said.

“He likes to keep it loose, have fun and have everybody come together and get to know each other. We can try to go out there as a team and try to make this thing work.

“He wants to go out there and compete, just like we do. He knows that we’ve got his back. We know that he has got ours.”

It’s Scioscia who throws himself in front of the bus to protect his players. He urged patience when Pujols slumped to start 2012, his first in the American League after 11 seasons with St. Louis. He praised Weaver when he tried to pitch through pain.

Scioscia is counting on their performance and production this season, especially early and late and in between.

“Nobody has more expectations than myself or our major league staff. We see the talent,” he said regarding the upcoming season.

But we also hear the beginning, perhaps, of Scioscia’s spin control.

“We have high expectations, and it’s a lot easier to deal with those expectations when you have a deep team,” he said. “On the offensive side, we are. We have the potential to be that on the defensive side and on the pitching side.”

Note the word “potential.” That’s a giant disclaimer that puts the liability less on him and more on the players.

After all, Scioscia doesn’t hit. He doesn’t pitch. He says he doesn’t even feel the heat.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure,” he said Friday. “No, I think it will be fun to watch these guys, and hopefully, they will play to their potential.”

If the Angels don’t play to their potential, Scioscia will soon be fielding the tougher questions.